Why Won’t The Ball Go Where I Want It To Go?

Before each of my pitching lessons (especially when we meet for the very first time), I ask my students what they struggle with the most. Other than wanting to throw harder (which I gave my opinion on in last week’s post) the most common response I get goes something like this:

“When I throw my fastball it’s not super accurate. And when I try to hit a spot, I miss…”

Or,

“I feel like my movement pitches aren’t moving the way they should, and they don’t go where they’re supposed to go.”

To become a successful pitcher one needs to keep batters off balance. You can only do that if you can command the strike zone. If your pitches aren’t doing what you want them to do, you are more likely to give up a lot of hits and walk a lot of batters. So what causes us to lose accuracy and miss spots? Today we are going to talk about the most common reasons for losing command.

Having command and the ability to put your pitches exactly where you want them to go is achieved by establishing a solid throw zone and delivering the ball without the throw zone moving or breaking down. Well what the heck does all that mean? Let’s start by defining what the throw zone is.

The throw zone: another word for the throw zone is “runway” and it is simply the path that your hand and the ball must be on in order to deliver the ball to the target with optimal speed and command. If you were to stand with your hips and shoulders facing the power line, and you were to bend over and pick up a piece of the power line and bring it to about mid thigh height, that is what your throw zone would look like. During the pitch that throw zone must be aimed at the spot a pitcher wants to hit. If you move it away from the desired spot you will miss it. It bears repeating: to command a pitch one must establish a solid throw zone, aim it at a spot and then deliver the ball without the throw zone breaking down or moving.

Let’s go ahead and talk about the most common things that can break down our throw zones:

1. Hip/Shoulder rotation: many girls are taught to deliver the ball by snapping their hips and shoulders shut (finishing with the hips and shoulders facing the catcher) However, this action can break down the throw zone. When you rotate the hips and shoulders, the power line becomes blocked by your body, and your arm no longer has a clear path to the strike zone. Your only options are to pitch through your own body (probably not going to happen), or to slow the arm down and come around the body, causing inside/outside pitches. When we rotate with the hips and shoulders, we lose the “tracked” part of the pitch that allows us to maintain the clear runway for our arm to the plate. This results in a loss of both speed and command.

2. Glove flying out: this is super important for pitchers who are having trouble hitting spots. In order to hit a spot with your fastball (let’s say a middle, inside spot), you would “reach” for that spot, track to that spot and fire down that runway that has been created. When the glove hand flies out to the side, you lose both the reach and the track part of the pitch, making it extremely difficult to hit a spot. Furthermore, glove hand flying out can cause hip and shoulder rotation, so now you’re adding in the problems listed in number 1 as well. When teaching girls to hit spots, we tell them to use their glove to cover the target’s glove. When they really focus on that, they usually hit their spots.

3. Bending/leaning: When you push off the rubber and land in power K position, it is important to be completely tall and stacked. We often see pitchers bending forward or sideways at the waist when they land in power K. This causes the throw zone to move away from the strike zone. Leaning forward will create a throw zone that is pointed low. Conversely, leaning backwards creates a throw zone that is pointed too high. Bendings at the waist takes the arm off the power line, allows the arm to get behind the body, and forces the throw zone to move down and then up during the delivery. All of this makes it very hard to hit spots.

4. Incorrect arm path: the 2 most common arm path issues we see are pitchers who pull their arms behind their heads/bodies during the arm circle, and girls who don’t do a complete arm circle and appear to “side arm” the ball. Both of these things break down the throw zone and take the arm off the power line thereby requiring the pitcher to slow down and/or to rotate hips and shoulders to get the arm back on the power line.

These are the most common mechanical mistakes that ruin command of the strike zone. Now let’s talk about what can cause these mistakes.

1. Muscle Weakness: muscle weakness is the primary cause of pretty much all mechanical issues seen in pitching. People hate to hear this because it means they have to start working out and training. Yikes! Have you ever watched the fitness routines that college athletes follow? There’s a reason for that, especially for pitchers. It’s because pitching takes an INCREDIBLE amount of core, hip, glute, and leg strength. Being able to aggressively push and glide off the rubber while landing completely tall, and then tracking to the catcher while keeping the glove on the power line and whipping the ball down the throw zone takes a ton of strength in those areas. When those areas are weak or haven’t been developed, we see these mechanical breakdowns.

2. Old Muscle Memory: There is the rare occasion when we get a student who DOES work with a trainer, so she is pretty strong in those pitching specific areas. However she has spent years pitching with poor mechanics that have now been engraved into her muscle memory. In this case, it is necessary to go back to basics, break down the bad habits and built up the new muscle memory.

So finally, now that we’ve identified the most common things that can break down a throw zone and what causes those mechanics issues, how can we fix the problem?

1. Get with a trainer: if you are the right age (in my opinion, at least 13 years old) and you are serious about playing high level softball, start doing some pitching specific workouts. If your goal is to play in college, you have got to start preparing your body. We can teach you the optimal mechanics, but if your body isn’t strong enough to execute those mechanics, there will be issues and frustration. If you plan to play at the collegiate level one day, you’d better get used to working out now because I promise that is going to be a part of your life when you get there.

2. Drills drills drills: We offer a ton of drills that help solidify good mechanics, but the one that is best for limiting the aforementioned mechanical issues is wall work. You can do all of your drills and even pitch right up against the wall, which gives instant feedback for mechanical breakdown. Check out our video for wall work here

I hope this has been helpful. Remember, when it comes to commanding your pitches, establishing the correct throw zone is crucial. There are so many things that can affect the throw zone, it is important for both coaches and pitchers to understand what those things are and how to avoid or correct them. Pitching certainly isn’t easy, but with hard work and dedication, you can definitely reach your goals.